


New friend

by Hotalando



Series: Core [19]
Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Gift Giving, Post-Enies Lobby Arc, Pre-Timeskip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:54:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24392392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hotalando/pseuds/Hotalando
Summary: A day has passed since Robin last talked to the shipwright. Whenever their paths cross—rarely—or their eyes meet, she tries to maintain a confident posture while a blush tickles her cheeks. Is it because of that conversation? In retrospective, it was a very strange one. Although Robin doesn‘t feel like a stranger to him after all that has happened those past days on Enies Lobby, he‘s still a new member to their crew.
Relationships: Franky/Nico Robin
Series: Core [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/870876
Kudos: 35





	New friend

“You have such rough hands. Still, your designs can be quite delicate. I wonder if your hands can mold something fragile.“ 

Her words roll off her tongue faster than she can catch their thoughts but they crushed all doubt on their way outside. Robin doesn‘t regret. No more. 

Surprise widens his eyes for a second, so pure and open they seem that for a moment, Robin thinks she can see directly into his childhood. He‘s so mysterious, despite that he wears his heart on his sleeve. Contradictory characteristics have always sparked an interest with her and now she‘s met someone who is a wild mixture of everything in and out—and not even so much different from herself. 

A lopsided grin replaces the childish look of surprise, triangle sunglasses pushed down on his metal nose, “That‘s a bet?” 

“Maybe,” Robin smiles charmingly, her chin rested on her palm and her little finger only grazing her bottom lip. 

“Super. Challenge accepted.“ 

A day has passed since Robin last talked to the shipwright. Whenever their paths cross—rarely—or their eyes meet, she tries to maintain a confident posture while a blush tickles her cheeks. Is it because of that conversation? In retrospective, it was a very strange one. Although Robin doesn‘t feel like a stranger to him after all that has happened those past days on Enies Lobby, he‘s still a new member to their crew. 

A new person in a new home that she has never thought to have. So much to adjust to, and then her feelings tend to turn upside down whenever he talks to her. Not very deep feelings nor heavy reasons—Robin isn‘t sure how to react to him, particularly over the events lying behind them. If she thanked him, how should she do it? What should she say? She likes him a lot, his acceptance of her all the more, 

_Klirr!_ ceramic shards and soil are scattered on her feet and the floor. A green spiky living being in the middle of the mess, now violently forced out of its home. Oh my. 

“Are you okay, Robin? Are you hurt? I‘m getting the–”

“I‘m fine, Chopper, I was just too deep in thought and dropped the pot by accident,“ Robin smiles reassuringly at him, hoping he wouldn‘t make a scene as the last time Zoro stepped into glass shards and ignored his wounded soles.

“Too deep in thought, huh?” she hears Nami smirking from her mikan bushes. A roll of her eyes is enough to cut the conversation. Nami knows enough for Robin‘s taste. 

Sighing, Robin sprouts hands to collect the shards on a pile and brush off the soil of her bare feet, cringing at the sensation of gravel in her sandals, and kneels down to cradle the small succulent in her real hands. Enough to fill both her palms, it still needs more tending to show its ultimate form, yet it shines so bright in its pretty green and fresh hues and as odd as it is—Robin enjoys to look at its unique beauty. So tiny but strong and tough, the same posture she has found it in in the darkest corner in a small shop in Water Seven. Maybe it‘s a souvenir, or maybe she just wanted to help a lonely plant to escape its confinement of rejection.

Whatever it was, it‘s now shattered to pieces. Oh well, they might have another pot somewhere or wouldn‘t they anchor soon? She might as well let it calm down from the fall in a bowl—if she winked sweetly, Sanji will definitely lend her one. 

Oh, oh well. 

Three days later and Robin is at a loss of words. Nestled into the soil of the flowerbed is her little spiky friend no more, once securely dug into the soil a little so the dessert bowl couldn‘t roll around when the waves shake the ship too roughly. The bowl is gone as well as the succulent, no trace of it left, not even a little gravel. 

_Something_ tells her to take a look into the library, her very own sanctuary—gifted by their shipwright. It would be a lie to say, this fact didn‘t make her like it all the more. She loves it.

Cautiously, she enters the round room with the big table and scans every little corner for a sign of her plant friend, her mind focused on finding the dessert bowl. Even though they have only been on this ship for a few days, it‘s already a lively mess. The library is mostly shared with Nami and Chopper, sometimes Sanji used it to update his recipe books, and still it‘s cluttered with all kinds of writing utensils, piles of books here and there on the table, on the chairs, and–

A small glass bowl with shiny green content in the centre of it. Not the same bowl—it‘s more like a little sphere with a hole at the top, soil in the womb and the small succulent bedded gently in the fresh new gravel. A perfect little home, to save the warmth of the sun due to the shape of the glass but giving the plant enough room to grow. With much care, Robin picks it up from the table and dares to take a look at the underside of the bowl. Three holes apparently covered by some sort of mesh to allow the excess water to drop through the soil. Such a thoughtful design. Her tiny friend couldn’t be better protected. An idea pops up in her head. 

Sphere in hands, Robin leaves for the workshop below deck. She knows where to find him at any time of day—she _might_ be watching him too much. And so she doesn‘t bother to announce her arrival or hesitate to steal the sunglasses off his nose to catch his attention. 

A chuckle greets her wholeheartedly, “You found your lil‘ friend. Hope, that hand-crafted crib matches your expectations.“ 

“... _You_ certainly do.“

**Author's Note:**

> There was something about Venetian glass making on TV last night, so...


End file.
